Publications by authors named "Assi S"

This review examines current evidence regarding management of patients with both coronary and carotid artery disease. It highlights the elevated stroke risk after surgery for this cohort and scrutinizes approaches to minimize this risk. Various revascularization methods are outlined, including carotid endarterectomy (CEA), carotid artery stenting (CAS), and staged versus simultaneous surgical approaches.

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Cancer is a major public health problem that ranks as the second leading cause of death. Anti-cancer drug development presents with various hurdles faced throughout the process. Nanoparticle (NP) formulations have emerged as a promising strategy for enhancing drug delivery efficiency, improving stability, and reducing drug toxicity.

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Background: Hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) has proved ineffective in treating patients hospitalised with Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), but uncertainty remains over its safety and efficacy in chemoprevention. Previous chemoprevention randomised controlled trials (RCTs) did not individually show benefit of HCQ against COVID-19 and, although meta-analysis did suggest clinical benefit, guidelines recommend against its use.

Methods And Findings: Healthy adult participants from the healthcare setting, and later from the community, were enrolled in 26 centres in 11 countries to a double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomised trial of COVID-19 chemoprevention.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study in Bouaké, Côte d'Ivoire, assessed how common asymptomatic and subpatent P. falciparum infections are and compared the effectiveness of three diagnostic tests (light microscopy, rapid diagnostic tests, and quantitative PCR).
  • Out of 2313 participants, 97.2% were asymptomatic, with high prevalence rates found; particularly in school-age children, while subpatent infections were more common in older individuals (≥15 years).
  • The findings suggest that traditional tests only detect high-density infections, and none of the tested samples showed deletions in the pfhrp2 gene, indicating a need for focused malaria reduction strategies in urban areas.
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Importance: Hearing loss may contribute to poor functional status via cognitive impairment and social isolation. Hearing aids may play a protective role by attenuating these downstream outcomes. However, population-based evidence is lacking.

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Importance: Patient education materials (PEMs) can promote patient engagement, satisfaction, and treatment adherence. The American Medical Association recommends that PEMs be developed for a sixth-grade or lower reading level. Health literacy (HL) refers to an individual's ability to seek, understand, and use health information to make appropriate decisions regarding their health.

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The health district of Sakassou is one of the 83 health districts in Côte d'Ivoire, located in a zone with very high malarial transmission rates, with an incidence rate of ≥40% Therefore, to guide vector control methods more effectively, it was crucial to have a good understanding of the vectors in the area. This study aimed to determine the level of malarial transmission during the dry season in Sakassou, Côte d'Ivoire. Female mosquitoes were sampled using human landing catches (HLCs) and pyrethrum spraying catches (PSCs).

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Background & Aims: Primary biliary cholangitis (PBC) is a progressive-cholestatic autoimmune liver disease. Dendritic cells (DC) are professional antigen-presenting cells and their prominent presence around damaged bile ducts of PBC patients are documented. cDC1 is a rare subset of DC known for its cross-presentation abilities and interleukin 12 production.

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Aims: To perform a systematic review of studies that sought to identify diagnostic biomarkers for the diagnosis of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) and diabetes mellitus (DM), which could be used in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) where there is a lack of diagnostic equipment, treatments and training.

Materials And Methods: Papers were sourced from six databases: the British Nursing Index, Google Scholar, PubMed, Sage, Science Direct and Scopus. Articles published between January 2002 and January 2023 were systematically reviewed by three reviewers and appropriate search terms and inclusion/exclusion criteria were applied.

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Oral thrush and throat infections can occur in a wide range of patients. Treatments are available; however, resistance to drugs is a major problem for treating oral and throat infections. Three-dimensional printing (3DP) of fast dissolving oral films (FDFs) of linalool oil may provide an alternative solution.

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Article Synopsis
  • - The study aimed to assess how different factors, like audio equipment and language use, affect vocal habits during online meetings (OMs) in a group of forty participants.
  • - Participants experienced various setups, including different audio devices and languages, while their vocal effort and performance were recorded and analyzed.
  • - Key findings revealed that speaking in a second language and using a computer's built-in microphone led to increased vocal strain, which could heighten the risk of vocal damage.
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Cardiovascular disease (CVDs) has been perceived as a 'man's disease', and this impacted women's referral to CVD diagnosis and treatment. This study systematically reviewed the evidence regarding gender bias in the diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of CVDs. Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses (PRISMA) guidelines were followed.

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Background: The massive scale-up of long-lasting insecticidal nets (LLIN) has led to a major reduction in malaria burden in many sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries. The World Health Organization (WHO) has recently issued a strong recommendation for the use of chlorfenapyr-pyrethroid LLINs compared to standard pyrethroid-only LLINs in areas of high insecticide resistance intensity. However, there is still a lack of conclusive evidence on the efficacy of piperonyl butoxide-pyrethroid (PBO-py) LLINs, especially in West Africa, where vector composition and resistance mechanisms may be different from vectors in East Africa.

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  • Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) results from various mutations that disrupt normal growth and differentiation of myeloid cells, leading to a dangerous increase in immature blast cells.
  • Current treatments mainly involve chemotherapy, but they often fail due to the presence of dormant leukemic stem cells (LSCs) that can reactivate and cause relapse.
  • This study focuses on the t(8;21) subtype of AML, revealing that LSCs in this model activate specific signaling pathways (VEGF and IL-5) that help them exit dormancy and maintain self-renewal, contributing to treatment resistance.
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  • Artemether-lumefantrine (AL) and artesunate-amodiaquine (ASAQ) are the first-line treatments for uncomplicated malaria in the Ivory Coast, with various studies examining their efficacy.
  • This meta-analysis aimed to assess malaria treatment failures in randomized control trials comparing AL and ASAQ between 2009 and 2016, utilizing data from four multicenter studies.
  • Results indicated high clinical and parasitological responses above 95% for both drug combinations, but a higher recurrence of infection was observed in the AL group compared to ASAQ, with most treatment failures classified as new infections after molecular testing.
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Background: Decreased efficacy of artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT) for Plasmodium falciparum malaria has been previously reported in patients with sickle cell disease (SCD). The main purpose of this study was to investigate the in vitro susceptibility of isolates to dihydro-artemisinin (DHA) to provide a hypothesis to explain this treatment failure.

Methods: Isolates were collected from patients attending health centres in Abidjan with uncomplicated P.

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  • Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a complex disease linked to various mutations, each creating its own gene regulatory network (GRN) with interacting transcription factors.
  • Researchers tested the idea that important regulators for maintaining AML can be found in highly interconnected nodes of these GRNs, focusing on FLT3-ITD-mutated AML as their model.
  • Their findings indicate that specific regulatory modules are essential for AML growth, and the transcription factor RUNX1 is critical, as its removal disrupts the GRN, leading to cell death.
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Background: Olfactory dysfunction (OD) is increasingly recognized as a hallmark of unhealthy aging and is intimately associated with mortality, but therapies remain elusive. Recognizing the increased prevalence of OD in individuals with diabetes, and the potential anti-aging effects of metformin, we studied the association of metformin use with OD.

Methods: Cross-temporal study of participants from Waves 2 (2010-11) and 3 (2015-16) of the National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project (NSHAP), a nationally representative cohort study of community-dwelling older adults.

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Background: The identification of modifiable risk factors is crucial for the prevention and/or reversal of frailty, which is associated with significant morbidity and mortality. Hearing loss affects two-thirds of older adults in the United States (U.S.

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Introduction And Hypothesis: The objective was to analyse the risk of significant bacteriuria in repeat urine cultures from pregnant women, following initial mixed bacterial results.

Methods: This retrospective study examined maternal characteristics and clinical features of women who repeated urine cultures due to previous mixed cultures results.

Results: Of 262 women included, 80 (30.

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  • A specific mutation in the IRF4 gene, associated with classic Hodgkin lymphoma, alters the protein's ability to bind to DNA, changing its normal functions.
  • This mutation leads to a loss of typical interactions with certain DNA motifs while allowing new, atypical DNA binding interactions.
  • The findings reveal how one mutation can significantly change the behavior of a transcription factor, potentially offering targeted treatment strategies that inhibit its abnormal activity.
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Background: Vector control tools, long-lasting insecticidal nets (LLINs) and indoor residual spraying (IRS), have significantly contributed to malaria prevention efforts in sub-Saharan Africa. However, insecticide resistance has seriously hampered their efficacy in recent years and new tools are essential to further progress. In2Care® EaveTubes (ETs) are an inexpensive, new resistance-breaking vector control product under World Health Organization (WHO) evaluation informed by mosquito ecology to efficiently target malaria vectors.

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